With visions of turkey and pumpkin pie dancing in their heads, the West Washington High School boys' basketball team cleansed their palates by dining on the Salem Lions, 61-44, in both teams' season-openers Nov. 25 in Campbellsburg.
The Senators took control of the contest early and never looked back against an SHS team that was missing two starters who are out for a violation of school rules.
The hungriest of all West Washington players seemed to be Josh Green, who finished the contest with 18 points and four rebounds.
Green's apatite was so big, Senator Head Coach Neil Coyle had to take him out of the game during one stretch to settle him down.
“Josh had a solid game,” Coyle said. “He got off to a fast start and got to tasting the victory, but then forced things a little bit. We took him out and when he reentered the game he played under control.”
Green scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half, but he teammate Clayton Sullivan picked up the scoring slack.
Sullivan finished the game with 24 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.
Coyle said Sullivan has developed into an all around good player.
“I challenged him to show me what he could do in the post,” he said. “Tonight, he came out and established himself in all areas of the game.”
The Lions trailed 32-18 at intermission, but kept the Senators within arm's reach throughout the third quarter.
Nate Busick and Taylor Banks scored three points each for Salem late in the third as they trimmed WW's lead to 11, 39-28.
That would be as close as they would get.
Sullivan hit two threes and Green hit a basket as the Senator lead quickly grew to 17, 47-30.
The win had added importance for Sullivan, who said he had never walked off a basketball court with a win over a Salem team.
“It feels great to me, it's my first time ever beating Salem,” he said. “This means everything. Beating Salem is a good way to start the season. That's what we wanted to do.”
Green has been looking forward to the game since he was part of West Washington's loss to Providence in the sectional semi-finals last spring.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Anytime you beat a rival like that, it means a lot. I know the turkey will taste a lot better after a win than it would have a loss.”
The Senators were back in action Tuesday at home against Austin and will have another tough game against a county rival Friday when they host the Eastern Musketeers.
Coyle said he knows his team still has a lot to work on and one of the things they must do is put together a full 32 minutes of consistent play.
“I thought we played a pretty good first half,” he said. “I thought we had good ball movement. Our defense was pretty good and we rebounded the ball pretty well. Our energy was good, but in the second half the kids came out and really didn't know how to handle the success. Our crowd was a little flat and so were we.”
The Lions were led in scoring by Zach Bowling with 11 points and Busick added 10.
Salem took on Brownstown Tuesday and will host Bedford North Lawrence Saturday. Junior varsity action will begin at 6 p.m. with the varsity contest slated for 7:30 p.m.
Friday's EHS-WW game will also begin with the JV game at 6 p.m. And the varsity contest scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.